Chimney and Flue Inspections in Kearns

Homes built in the post-war decades commonly ran their heating appliances into a masonry chimney rather than out through a sidewall. That worked because those appliances were inefficient and their exhaust was hot enough to keep the flue dry and moving. Then, over the following fifty years, that furnace got replaced with a modern high-efficiency unit that vents through plastic pipe out the wall, and the water heater was left behind, on its own, venting into a masonry flue built for something four times its size.

Why an orphaned flue is the risk it is

Exhaust from a lone water heater in an oversized cold masonry chimney cools before it gets to the top. It slows down, condenses on the tile, and that condensate is acidic. It eats mortar joints from the inside, and the deteriorating liner starts leaking exhaust into the space around it. Because the appliance is a water heater rather than a furnace, nobody thinks about it, and because the failure is invisible from every room in the house, nothing announces it. This is a carbon monoxide question, and it is the single most common serious finding we make in this part of the valley. A camera answers it in twenty minutes.

Fireplace inspections and what the levels mean

For the fireplace itself, a Level 1 is a visual examination of everything readily accessible and is right for a system in known, unchanged service. A Level 2 adds a camera down the full flue, plus a look at the accessible concealed areas, and is what you want before buying a house, after changing what the fireplace burns, or after any event that could have damaged the structure. Factory-built fireplaces get an extra item: we check the model against the manufacturer's listing, because a manufactured system is only safe when its own parts are in it.

What you get

A written report with images, in plain terms, saying what is sound and what is not. If nothing needs doing, that is what it says. We do not treat an inspection as an opportunity to find work.